Biggest Seedling Disappointment This Season

Everyone who dabs pollen dreams of what might come from those precious seeds. I had high hopes for this cross:

Dancing Flamingo was the pod parent

Dearest Valentine was the pollen parent

I couldn't wait for the first seedling of this cross to bloom. I was going for an 8-incher with the look of Dearest Val.

Here's what I got:

An orange self that would have made Arlow Stout proud. I imagined his ghost just laughing at my results. My husband's reaction: That's really old school. No kidding! I only have one more of this cross. Lord only knows what it will produce next year.

What are the strangest things you've ever gotten from a cross? What were your biggest seedling disappointments this year?

Sherry - I composted two ugly brown ones out of teeth breeding shortly after they bloomed without taking photos. Wouldn't you know it - they were fast multipliers with great branching and bud counts. Both of them had Julie Newmar as a parent.

Usually mine seem to look very similar to their pod parent plant, but I had one that had narrow, pointed plain petals, light yellow. I don't know the pollen parent, but the pod parent was Annabelle's Blush, and I probably paired it with another ruffled bagel one. I did not take pictures, but I was surprised to see one like that.

I have an old orange self just like the one you posted. It is a Noid, but I bought it as a kid from Russell Gardens around 1968. It was probably old then cause as a kid I couldn't possibly have bought a newer one!